THANKFULNESS

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We believe that God abounds in generosity and that every good thing comes from him (Psalm 24:1). This results in many expressions of thanks – in vibrant praise and humble gratitude, sharing stories of God’s goodness, much encouragement and thanks to others, and a spirit of generosity. When thankfulness permeates a community the Lord of the heavens and the earth is honoured, and much joy wells up in all our lives (Psalm 100; 1 Thess 5:18; 2 Cor 9:12).

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HUMILITY

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All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5). Jesus, through his life and death, showed that God values humility (Phil 2:5-11), therefore we follow his example and seek to be humble channels of God’s grace. As we remain humble we bring glory to God for every success, we have soft hearts for the Holy Spirit to transform and direct us, we are teachable and submit to authority, we recognize our need for God’s power over our own (Zech 4:6) and we serve others as Jesus did (John 13:1-17).

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HOPE

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Hope is a vision of the future. Our confident hope of eternal life makes us look forward to Jesus’ return. We also believe that hope is found in the specific visions that God has for every person and church. Hope breathes life and meaning into service, sacrifice and suffering. Vision grips our hearts and hope compels us to keep moving forward in faith. In the midst of challenges we can experience hope and offer hope to others that God has not finished his work, but can do “immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine” (Eph 3:20).

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GRACE

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Salvation in Christ is a free gift from God, we cannot do anything to earn God’s approval, only receive what he has already done for us through his sacrifice on the cross (Eph 2:8-9). Just as sinners like us received such grace, we freely offer that grace to others. Unlike legalism that views and judges people as either good or evil, grace recognizes that below the surface behaviours we all have brokenness that Jesus longs to heal and restore over time. As a grace church we accept people as they are, and seek to walk with them believing God will complete the work he has begun in their lives (Phil 1:6).

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PRAYER

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Prayer is the most significant ministry in the church. It is where we receive power for ministry, seek God for direction, win the battle over spiritual forces, and see breakthroughs in situations and lives. Prayer shows that we believe that Jesus is head of the church and is responding in obedience to his call to ask the Lord of the harvest (Matt 9:38). Prayer is our intimate relational connection with God, recognizing that without Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5). We believe God has told us at The Grove to “pray always” (1 Thess 5:17).

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FOLLOWING JESUS

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Living in obedience to Jesus naturally follows prayer. As we seek God for direction we believe he will reveal his wisdom. The usual way God speaks is through His Word. When the Holy Spirit chooses to speak in other ways it will never contradict Scripture.
When we hear Jesus voice we need to do what he says. To ‘pray and obey’ is a simple but powerful motto that we believe is the dynamic way in which we follow God into great spiritual blessing – fruitfulness and harvest.

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EVANGELISM 

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God’s heart beats for those who are lost. He sees them while they are still a long way off, he has great compassion for them, and our Heavenly Father loves to welcome lost people home (Luke 15:20; Matt 9:36). We see our primary mission is to share the good news so we can see people of all ages – neighbours, friends, family, people though-out the world won for Christ (Matt 28:19-20). Every believer is called to be a witness (Acts 1:8), to build relationships with those who are not yet in God’s family, and to look for God’s opportunities to share his love (Col 4:5). As a church our contemporary approaches and style are to be relevant and welcoming to our society and the gospel is to be preached regularly.

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LOVE

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Love is the glue that holds everything together. Without love everything we do is of zero benefit (1 Cor 13:1-3). God so loved the world that he gave his only Son (John 3:16). We recognize that love is about giving our lives away for the benefit of others. The central commandment of Jesus is to love God with all our lives and to love others. Love is what distinguishes us from being an organization to a living breathing organism that reflects the life transforming character of God ( John 13:35).